Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer. - Will Rogers

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. - Lord Acton

Thursday, April 14, 2005

More on the Barrett letter to the LAPD Chief of Police

Last night I posted an article which called into question the 'immediacy' of an article by Publicola. He referred to a letter that Ronnie Barrett had written to the LAPD Police Chief.

In 2002, Barrett attend a Los Angeles City Council meeting, where he was unable to convince them NOT to pass local laws against private ownership of the rifle which he manufactures. Part of the reason was that a LAPD representative was there and spoke in favor of the legislation.

I made the point that the letter was written in December of 2002. It may be 'news' (especially in light of recent productions by '60 Minutes' and published comments from the Violence Policy Center), but it isn't "NEW news".Besides, I had no way of confirming that Barrett had actually followed through on the implied threat; that he would no longer sell to the LAPD, nor service rifles he had already sold to them. For that matter, it wasn't clear whether Barrett would refuse to do business with the LAPD, all California Government Agencies, or with anyone in California. That had seemed, to me, to be the most salient point of his letter. Consequently, I had no idea whether the issue really warranted comment.

Part of my confusion was due to the following verbiage posted on the Barrett's main page:

2 comments:

I can add a little bit to this topic. I just attended the NRA convention in Houston on the 16th. Barrett had a small booth. Prominently displayed on the booth in several places is the statement that Barrett is not servicing or selling to any government agency of the state of California. He appears to be quite serious about his position.